Health & safety
Pictured right: Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy and Minister for Trade Hon Stephen Robertson MP (centre) presents the People's Choice Award to Kestrel Mine employees Peter O'Brien (left) and Maehe Austin (right).
Our approach
Rio Tinto Coal Australia's goal is zero injuries and illness. We work hard to maintain an injury and illness free workplace where everyone - employees and contractors- go home safe and healthy each day.
Our Health, Safety, Environment and Quality (HSEQ) management system provides a framework for our health, safety and environment standards and quality reporting requirements. This group wide system ensures all Rio Tinto operations uniformly work within internationally recognised health, safety and environment frameworks, such as ISO14001, Australian Standard 4801 and meet various certifications, as well as internal and external reporting requirements.
The HSEQ system outlines an approach for sound hazard and risk identification, evaluation and management, ongoing verification and review of performance.
Mandatory safety standards cover our principal safety hazards:
- Isolation
- Electrical safety
- Vehicles and driving
- Working at heights
- Confined spaces
- Cranes and lifting equipment
- Aviation
- Underground safety.
Ensuring all employees and contractors work in a healthy and safe environment is achieved through the implementation of systems and standards by dedicated health and safety professionals at our sites.
Our mandatory occupational health standards apply to all employees and contractors and are regularly audited, providing the opportunity for continual improvement in our performance. Health standards cover the following key areas:
- Particulate and gas/vapour exposures
- Hearing conservation
- Manual handling and vibration
- Hazardous substances
- Thermal stress
- Fitness for work
- Travel and remote site health
- Radiation
- Legionnaires disease.
Our leadership team is accountable for our performance against the health and safety standards. They are supported by competent and trained personnel at each site whose responsibilities include implementing health systems and monitoring workplace conditions to control exposure to health hazards. Health and safety advisers manage risk registers, conduct personal monitoring for dust, noise, thermal stress and audiometric testing, as well as educate and inform operational teams of health findings and initiatives.
The implementation and business performance of each site against the health and safety standards is checked through an independent audit process.
We employ a range of tools and programmes to ensure that health and safety remains foremost in the minds of employees and leaders. These include:
- Safety Leadership Development Programme
- TapRoot investigations of all significant incidents
- Pre task risk assessments including 'Take5' quick personal safety risk assessment and job hazard analyses (JHAs)
- Safety interactions
- Managing director's 'Golden Rules'.
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